Dear Tempo, I hate you.

Now that I am a couple months into marathon training, the runs are getting longer and more difficult. I guess that’s as expected?

I’ve completed my longest run of 18 miles (which went pretty well) and have begun the tempo runs that are scattered throughout my training plan. I’m just going to go ahead and say it – I’m not a fan of tempo.

Tempo sucks. I’m well beyond my comfort zone, which I suppose is the purpose for doing them. They aren’t comfortable at all. When I was looking ahead at my plan for my “recovery” week last week, I was looking forward to only having to run 10 miles for my long run. (Is it crazy that now I don’t think of 10 miles as a very long run anymore?)

Then I read the details of that 10 miler. I thought maybe it was a typo. (Hint: It wasn’t). A 10 mile tempo run?? Who does that? Well, apparently I do now. 10 miles total with 2 mile repeats at a very fast pace (for me) has been challenging to say the least. So far, I’ve completed two of these 10 mile tempo runs but I’ve missed my target pace every mile. I’ve had to stop and take more breaks than I would like, but I’m out there and I’m trying.

Am I the only one who would prefer to run 18 base pace miles instead of a 10 mile tempo run?
My second tempo run started off with an easy first mile. After that first mile I tried to pick up the pace to what my plan called for and my legs felt like lead. “Ok, just pick it up a little and ease into it” I told myself. I started to feel a little better and I felt like I was running very fast and then I checked my watch and I wasn’t even close to the pace!

Naturally, I would like to think that it’s my Garmin’s fault. It’s kind of old…maybe it’s just not accurate anymore. A girl can hope, can’t she?

To make this run even more difficult, it began to rain in the middle of mile 2 and was coming down in buckets. “Great. Just what I need”. I almost pulled the plug and ran back home, but I knew I’d be disappointed in myself. This run was really difficult. I stopped every mile (instead of every 2 miles) and took a quick break. I still felt like I was running faster than what my watch was telling me, but I kept missing my target pace by 20-30 seconds per mile.

Overall, this was just a difficult run and made me doubt my ability to run the marathon in the time I would like. I’ve told myself that my only expectation is to complete the marathon, but, let’s be real, I definitely have a goal time in mind and would get great satisfaction if I hit it. So, I’m out there trying and hopefully will do a little better for my tempo run next week. Wish me luck.

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Erin Mauro PT DPT

Erin has been a recreational runner for over 10 years and it has turned into a passion that she is excited to share with others.

She is currently working on training for her first marathon and is looking forward to working more with runners through RunSmart. She graduated with her DPT from D’Youville college and is excited to share her passion and knowledge with other runners.